The High Court has declined to grant orders sought by a woman challenging her detention, finding that she freely allowed an immigration officer into her home and voluntarily went to a Garda station before she was arrested.
The inquiry concerned the applicant’s detention on 2 April 2014. She argued that Garda Sinead Lynch had unlawfully entered her apartment, effectively arrested and detained her there, and brought her to a Garda station. On that basis, she said her later formal arrest and detention were tainted by the earlier alleged unlawful detention.
The court heard evidence from the applicant and Garda Lynch. The judge found the applicant unreliable and preferred the Garda’s account where their evidence differed. He accepted that the applicant invited Garda Lynch into the apartment, including by gesture, and that the Garda had told the applicant and her mother three times that they were not under arrest and did not have to go to the station.
Garda Lynch had initially gone to the apartment to return a driver’s licence and warn its intended recipient that they were not entitled to work in Ireland. She did not know the applicant or that deportation orders had been made against her and her mother. The judge accepted that the Garda’s initial concern was their welfare, given the circumstances in which they were living. The applicant and her mother waited unguarded in a public area beside the station’s main door while Garda Lynch spoke with two men connected to the apartment.
The applicant’s counsel argued that asking for identification while she was at home breached the constitutional protection of the dwelling, and that her apparent consent to entry and travel to the station was not freely given. The judge rejected those arguments. He found the request for identification was not a search of the home and said the applicant’s decision to close the door on the Garda showed she understood she could exclude her. He also found that the applicant’s fear of leaving in handcuffs reflected her knowledge that the deportation order would likely come to light, rather than coercion by the Gardaí.
After Garda Lynch learned that deportation orders were in force, she cautioned and arrested the applicant and her mother. The judge found that arrest and detention lawful and found no unlawful action or deprivation of liberty in the earlier events. He therefore declined to grant the orders sought. The judgment does not set out any further order.